Life in 19th century Australia overflows with hardship . . . Will Jayne have the courage to find the answers?
I am excited to participate in a blog tour today for an excellent book– Jayne’s Endeavour, by Lauren Compton. Read on for more information about the book, series, author, my review, an exclusive excerpt, and a giveaway!
About the Book
Genre: Historical Christian Fiction
Page Count: 276
Age Range: 12-18
Series: Book 1 of The JOY Series
Mysterious strangers, a Scripture verse, and a threat.
“Reids never give up.” The words once held so much truth. But at eighteen, Jayne Reid is beginning to wonder if she can live up to that standard.
When puzzling strangers appear and odd things start to happen, Jayne and her two younger sisters must find a solution—or lose everything.
What mystery lurks in the shadows of the Australian bush? Who is the man in town who thinks he can buy and bully anyone he wishes? And is it all somehow connected to their new farmhand?
Journey with Jayne as she struggles to change fear into boldness and boldness into a trusting relationship with her Heavenly Father. What adventure lies ahead?
Title: Jayne’s Endeavour
Author: Lauren Compton
Genre(s): Christian Historical Fiction
Rating: ❤ ❤ ❤ ❤ (four stars)
Romance Content: N/A
Recommended age range: 12+, appropriate for all ages
My Review:
FTC Disclosure: I was given an ebook copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. I was not required to give a positive review. All thoughts are my own.
This was a very interesting book with great Scriptural truth! I enjoyed learning more about Australia– the different words and spellings were fun to read as well as learning about wildlife and plant life in the bush. 🙂 The premise/plot was very interesting, and I enjoyed trying to guess what was really going on, especially pertaining to a couple characters. 😉 Oh, and I also loved Jayne’s name! It’s an unique way to spell it that I hadn’t seen before.
The only thing that I didn’t appreciate were the scenes where the main character, a young lady, is alone with men and touches them, either to comfort {i.e. she touches him lightly on the shoulder} or to help an injured man. Now, there is nothing inappropriate and the men are quite a bit older than her, like closer to her father’s age, but I still don’t prefer such things.
All in all, this was an enjoyable book that I really enjoyed! I appreciate the Biblical lessons throughout, such as God being a Father to the fatherless and, while much more subtle, the lessons against gossip. I would recommend this book to people of all ages!
Excerpt
“Jayne, Jayne, you’ll never guess what’s happened.” Yvonne gasped for breath as she halted in front of Checker’s stall. “The lantern we left out is missing. Nowhere to be found.”
Olivia came up behind Yvonne. “We looked everywhere.”
Jayne groaned and set her milk pails on the ground outside the pen. She had forgotten to ask about the lantern. “Where did you leave it?” she asked Olivia.
“It was too difficult for me to carry the lamb and the lantern last night. Halfway home we decided to leave it by a tree. We made sure we left it where we could find it, but—” She lifted her hands in a helpless shrug.
Jayne didn’t like the possibilities that her mind immediately conjured up. To Yvonne it was just an exciting mystery, but to Jayne the implications seemed serious. Had someone been creeping around their property in the dark? Was it someone connected with Mr Lamberton? Or worse still, could it have been Lamberton himself? As Jayne remembered how she had sat alone in the dark last night, a tingle ran down her spine.
Olivia watched Jayne’s face closely. “What do you think happened to it?”
Jayne shrugged, unwilling to voice her thoughts. She patted Checkers as she disciplined herself to think of a more obvious solution. “You probably just forgot where you put it. Come, and we’ll all look.”
Olivia nodded. “Sure enough it hasn’t grown legs and walked off. More than likely we just had the wrong place.”
Jayne shook her head at herself. Why must she always jump to the worst possible conclusion? Still feeling frustrated, she called out to Yvonne, who was already heading out of the stable. “Wait till I put these pails inside.”
–Chapter 10, Jayne’s Endeavour
The JOY Series
The JOY Series follows three sisters on a quest to keep their parents’ legacy and dreams alive. Loaded with 19th century Australian adventure, it’s a series full of intrigue, adventure, and faith for ages 12 and up!
About the Author
Lauren Compton lives in Australia on a sheep farm—surrounded by mountains and plenty of Aussie wildlife! From a young age she has loved books and writing-related things (yep, that includes spending ages in the writing supplies department!). Now she has embarked on a mission to write books that both entertain AND encourage. Her desire is to weave stories that point readers to her Heavenly Father while at the same time being a whole lot of fun!
Connect with Lauren
Blog | Goodreads |Amazon | Newsletter
Purchase Links
Direct from Author | Amazon | Book Depository | Add to Goodreads shelf
Tour Giveaway!
Click HERE to enter the giveaway!
And here’s a quote for you… 🙂
Join in the Rest of the Fun!
Be sure to follow along for author interviews, fun posts, and exclusive giveaways! (NOTE: I cannot recommend all of these blogs, as I am not familiar with all of them. Please check them out at your own discretion. 😉 )
Monday 25th May
Abby Rose @ Photos by Abby Rose |Review
Tuesday 26th May
Leona @ Great Books for God’s Girls |Review and Excerpt
Wednesday 27th May
Becky @ Blossoms and Blessings | Review and Exclusive Giveaway
Erika @ Resting Life | Review and Excerpt
Thursday 28th May
Katja @ Old-Fashioned Book Love |Review
Malachi @ Brainstorms with Rain |Book Spotlight
Monday 1st June—Release Day!!
Kaitlyn @ Maidens for Modesty |Review and Guest Post
Lauren @ Novels That Encourage |Release Day Post
Tuesday 2nd June
Rebekah @ Read Another Page |Review and Author Interview
Wednesday 3rd June
Kassie @ Soldier Girl Stories PLEASE NOTE! As of October 2022, do not go to Kassie Angle’s former website! She doesn’t own that domain anymore, and it is now a bad website, from what I’ve heard. |Review and Exclusive Giveaway
Esther @ Purposeful Learning |Book Spotlight, Recipe
Thursday 4th June
Amanda @ With a Joyful Noise | Book Spotlight, Guest Post
Monday 8th June
Ryana Lynn @ Life of Heritage |Review, Author Interview, Exclusive Giveaway
Tuesday 9th June
Michaela @ Tangled Up in Writing |Review and Book Spotlight
Abigail @ Read, Review, Rejoice | Book Spotlight and Guest Post
Wednesday 10th June
Sydney @ Singing Librarian Books | Review, Excerpt, Author Interview
Thursday 11th June
Tara @ Tower in the Plains | Review and Recipe
Laura @ Beautiful Things |Book Spotlight
Lauren @ Novels That Encourage |Tour Wrap Up
Great Books for God's Girls 
Sounds like my kind of book.
Marion
This looks like something I’d like! How do you find all these blog tours? I haven’t been able to find many…..
Usually I follow the authors’ blogs, and then they ask for people to sign up to participate in the blog tours. There’s not really a formula to finding them, it just happens! 😉 I know there are websites which host blog tours, but I’ve never gotten into them since I haven’t really found one with books I think I’d like to read. 😉
Okay and thanks! 🙂
Thanks for your lovely post and honest review, Leona! 😃 I’m so grateful that you participated in my blog tour! And I’m glad JE was a blessing to you! I especially appreciated this part of your review: “This was an interesting book with great Scriptural truth.” A great compliment 😊
You’re welcome! I’m glad I could read the book and participate! 🙂